THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH Down by the River GIOVANNI BRADLEY FALL 2018 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a baccalaureate degree in English with honors in Letters, Arts, and Sciences. Reviewed and approved* by the following: Dr. Karen Weekes Associate Professor of English & Women’s Studies Thesis Supervisor Dr. David Ruth Associate Professor of History & American Studies Honors Adviser * Signatures are on file in the Schreyer Honors College. i ABSTRACT Down by the River is a two-act comedy that depicts four eclectic twenty-two-year-old friends as they vacation in New Orleans for Memorial Day weekend. The father of one of the friends also plays a prominent part in the play. The characters face a string of unexpected, somewhat exaggerated, obstacles during their weekend stay in town. Down by the River concentrates on the subjects of friendship and family. The play also challenges socially-constructed associations of masculinity in the US. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………....…………...i TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………….…..ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………....………...……iii CRITICAL INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………......iv Down by the River………………………………………………………………….…..1 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………......49 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank Dr. Weekes, my thesis supervisor, who helped me with the creation of Down by the River. For the past year and a half, Dr. Weekes patiently led me through the different stages of my thesis. Her attention to volume production, big-picture effects, and any decision’s practicality proved indispensable. I am still happy that she accepted my request for her involvement in the first place. So, too, is my appreciation to Dr. Chamberlin, who provided a second readership of my thesis and offered valuable suggestions for needed improvements. I also thank Dr. Ruth, my honors advisor, for guiding me through the Schreyer program. Outside of Schreyer, I care to make mention of Hudson Saffell, an English instructor at Penn State Abington, who equally saw me through my thesis and provided edits and encouragement every step of the way. Finally I am grateful to The Schreyer Honors College for the opportunity to partake in its wonderful program. iv CRITICAL INTRODUCTION Down by the River is a productive feminist text. Earlier in the writing process, I thought how can I be the best feminist I can be in this play? The answer lay not with women, but with men. Most feminist stimulus rises from the less-than-agreeable actions of men. So if I, a male writer, speaking to a partly male audience, help said male audience improve their own characters a little, then Down by the River will have been worthwhile. With Down by the River, I wanted to set examples for men to follow through the main male characters in my play. After seeing Down by the River, men will realize that satisfaction with their own lives, comes through productive work and strong and intimate ties with family and chosen family. Some men harbor this aversion to intimacy and communication, probably thinking society will judge them for partaking in such natural human acts. Little do these men know how wonderful and empowering closeness and attachment are. I trust Down by the River will be savvy enough to assist men into recognizing the sheer force that affection generates. Men need to help other men change their general views of masculinity and remove stigmas attached to emotional expression and affection. Most feminists would prefer a world with more types like Dallas, Medgar, Bo-bo, and Senator Lombard, and less types like Guy 1, Guy 2, and Guy 3. As a male writer, I can help feminism best by creating respectful male characters that men seek to emulate and that women can appreciate as well. In terms of artistic precedent that influenced Down by the River, two movie scripts come to mind: Rio Bravo (1959) and Amarcord (1973). Rio Bravo, a western starring John Wayne, is abnormal for its time. Rio Bravo’s plot all takes place in one single town, no escapades outside of the town, and the main male characters show care and affection for each other and women, even for 2018 standards. In a somber moment at the end of the film, Dude (Dean Martin) says to v John T. (John Wayne), “If you want to jump in, I’ll take care of you” (2:15:38-2:15:42). Rio Bravo’s characters are the main reason I let the film influence my work. In other words, Rio Bravo provided the most inspiration for my male characters and their dynamic between one another. I turned to Amarcord for non-character related influence. With the backdrop of 1930’s fascism, Amarcord takes place in a fictional, northeastern, seaside, Italian town during the stretch of one year. Amarcord is exaggerated, colorful, and nostalgic. While still being a critical success, critics complain of Amarcord’s loose plotline. The film is more so a string of anecdotes regarding the most interesting characters in the town, so Amarcord’s own setting is what gives it unity. Amarcord influenced Down by the River in its treatment of setting, exaggeration and nostalgia. Down by the River also uses its setting, New Orleans, as a character of its own. Like Amarcord, my scenes seem amplified and intend to tap into an adult’s sense of nostalgia. Down by the River is not as reliant on its characters as Rio Bravo, and it is also not as reliant on its setting as Amarcord; Down by the River lies somewhere in the middle of the two scripts; it is, in some ways, a compromise of the two scripts. On a lighter note, I want grownups to feel like kids every time they read or watch Down by the River. The world offers enough harsh realism and tragedy, so I want to discuss heavy themes but make these themes feel like lullabies or old children’s stories that one barely remembers. Down by the River should play as a children’s story for adults. If successful, adults will reflect on their adolescence, feel nostalgic, yet find and use an almost-forgotten current of energy that will refresh their jobs and their private lives. If one remains hesitant towards Down by the River, this play describes additional subject matter that might be of interest. Down by the River covers many topics: family, friendship, religion, nuns, New Orleans, racism, homosexuality, heterosexuality, mental disabilities, masturbation, flirting, dancing, singing, politics, political parties, patriotism, violence, mobs, physical comedy, smartphones, media outlets, drag queens, and food & drink. I originally intended Down by the River to be a narrower tale about the friendship between a gay man and a heterosexual woman. Then I changed my play to a collection of unrelated scenes that all held together thanks to the setting. Finally, I decided to revisit my original script and add more characters and themes into the mix. I like to think the collection-of- scenes period, in turn, helped me improve my original draft into the present version of Down by the River. 1 Down by the River Written by: Gio Bradley Author’s Note The setting of New Orleans carries its local dialects along with it, specifically the Louisiana Creole dialect and the Cajun dialect (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 102). Since I am not from New Orleans, I did not attempt to implement any dialects into the script; however, if anyone else producing this play truly knows New Orleans dialects, feel free to include them into the speech of the local characters. 2 Stage Manager: Dear Americans. Americans. Americans. I am the stage manager. Remember, remember but some centuries ago we took and then made this land our great nation? You tell me, ‘describe America.’ Describe an American. Give me a small free sample of it with my checkout of the big deal with the famous USA. Fine. Are you ready, folks? Aye, audience in attendance say, ‘aye.’ Come on. Foreign countries know we’re loud and energetic. Aye, audience, repeat after me, aye. Everyone: Aye. Stage Manager: Play ball! America, land of hot dogs, due process, pickup trucks, lipstick & lip gloss. Who’s the boss! Subway-train make outs. Kentucky-Blue-grass make outs. Oil—gasoline, ready, set, hike, the original 13 original colonies. California Gold Rush. Levi’s Jeans. Beer and Bourbon and Rye and Chardonnay, heyy. Yankee Doodle went to town dandy—then Susan, Elizabeth, and the rest, went hard to vote. MLK, Douglass, and Tubman on the mountaintop. Ta- ta-ta-touch screen, ice cream, sun screen, big screen. TV. I Love Lucy to Friends of Jenn Anniston. Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or undecided and uninterested, all under one house. National parks. The beaches, all the beaches on every coast. Thanksgiving—Thanksgiving: The most American thing, but Christmas also became ours—shout out to Mariah Carey. Oh, Biggie, Biggie, Biggie, can’t you see—that star-spangled banner yet wave. [Pause.] Thank you. Thank you. Now, remember. I love the word remember. It’s my favorite word. Remember adolescence used to end at about 18 or, say, 21? Yeah, well, that number has changed to 30. Long live the young and underdeveloped brains of the young. Dear, God. Anyway, today, they are having me—they being the spirits and ancestors of this nation—they are having me present a tale of patriotism. So, sit back and stop trying to guess how many likes your latest Gram pic got since you last checked your notifications. Off we go, down South: New Orleans. You been there? It’s a very honest city. Where the filthy rich and the dead-ass broke all mingle closely together.